BB's Random Stuff

August 26, 2005

Autobahns

Unique to Europe, many of Germany's highways are
with no speed limits at all, and drivers can enjoy cruising along as fast as they
want, or as fast as their car will let them. Thanks to the influence of the many
car manufacturers here, it's here to stay, so far. Instead of being a bunch of
speeding maniacs, drivers here are on the whole pretty civilised about it, and the
huge range of speeds are managed pretty well. Even when one car tops out at 170kph,
a Porsche can pass quite safely at 230+, in part because the roads without limits
tend to be long sweeping roads with lots of visilibty, and I found that at 175kph,
I was reacting to movements of cars 400+ metres away.

The drive back to Holland was one of the best I've ever done - cruising towards the Dutch border at 175kph (sometimes 50kph faster than other cars) was a great pleasure, and I can't wait to do it again!